Waste Management

 Establishing a national container deposit scheme to recover high value materials, stop plastics
and other toxic metals from polluting the environment, and encourage investment and create
jobs.
 Establishing a national waste register to provide transparency on what and where waste is
produced to drive innovation and collaboration about how waste is managed. This will include
an audit of all municipal waste sites.
 By funding research into surveying marine debris, the best ways to remove existing waste and
debris and to stop further waste entering the marine environment.

Recycling: Turning Waste Material into Raw Material

Recycling works, and it does so in several ways. It reduces the monetary and environmental costs of
landfilling and incineration. It substitutes used materials for virgin materials, thereby reducing the
demand for natural resources. It conserves energy. And it creates jobs in the community.

Many U.S. communities now actively recycle. Common programs include

 Curbside recycling containers. The community provides containers in which individual families
deposit such materials as newspapers; glass bottles and jars; tin and aluminum containers;
plastic bottles and bags; mixed waste paper (cardboard, phone books, magazines, junk mail,
office paper, brown bags); and used motor oil. The community arranges for curbside pickup and
delivery to a recycling facility.
 Drop-off recycling zones. Groups of large recycling bins are installed on public property in one or
more locations throughout the community.
 Recycling centers. The community provides the center itself and encourages residents to drop
off or sell refuse materials there.
 Green waste diversion and composting programs. Leaves, grass clippings, and other organic
waste materials are composted and used to enrich soil or as mulch or landfill cover.

Waste Reduction: Stop Throwing Things Out

A simple and obvious choice is to cut back on the amount of waste by using and throwing out less in the
first place. Some states have adopted regulatory strategies to discourage dependence on landfills. In
1990, for example, California enacted a law that established a baseline for the amount of solid waste its
cities and towns send to landfills. By 1995, that amount was to be reduced by 25 percent; by the year
2000, by 50 percent. California now diverts more than 25 percent of its waste, resulting in disposal of
approximately 33 million tons per year. Such heavy cuts are usually accomplished by recycling.

Waste Reduction: Use Less Packaging

Packaging is one of the major sources of waste paper and plastics. According to EarthWorks Groups, it
accounts for approximately one-third of all the garbage Americans send to landfills. Packaging should be
minimal. Its production should be environmentally clean and it should be made up of materials that can
be reused or recycled repeatedly. Some packaging is purposely elaborate to make the contents more
attractive--cosmetics are notorious for this. Smart buyers can support the use of environmentally
friendly packaging by purchasing products with minimal packaging or with packaging made of recycled
or recyclable materials.